The introduction of High Definition Television (HDTV) and the flat panel display has led to new and pleasant experience in watching television. The slimness of a flat panel television set saves space and allows a consumer to place a larger television in a room of limited size. HDTV sets support high resolution and better picture quality. Many HDTV sets sold today are flat panel television sets.
Along with the improved resolution and picture quality, the trend in HDTV sales has been towards a general increase in the size of the average television display. For example, in United States, the average size of a HDTV set sold is now approximately 30 inches, diagonal. In some Asian countries, the average size is even larger than 32 inches.
A large screen allows a consumer to more comfortably view multiple pictures. For example, a consumer may watch the Super Bowl on a large picture on the display screen, while simultaneously viewing an NBA game between the Sacramento Kings and the LA Lakers on a smaller picture, a local college basketball between Stanford and Berkeley on a third picture, and a hockey game between New York Islanders and Anaheim Ducks on a fourth picture on the television display. Not to miss any important news, the consumer may view CNN or FOX on a fifth picture. Last but not least, they may also view a sixth picture, such as from a baby monitor their 8-month old baby's room, at the same time. On a traditional smaller television screen, having six picture frames displaying simultaneously on the screen would necessitate that at least some of the picture frames would be so small as to be difficult to view at an average or normal viewing distance. With the large screen, however, more the larger display area allows for more picture detail to be discerned at the same distance than with a smaller television screen.
Currently, there are several ways to view multiple pictures simultaneously on a television set. Picture in picture (PIP) allows two pictures to be shown on a television set at the same time, with a smaller picture displayed on top of, or overlaying, a larger picture. Since the smaller picture overlays the larger picture, the larger picture is not entirely visible. This is often extremely inconvenient, as the overlaid picture may cover a portion of the larger picture of interest to the viewer. For example, the overlaid portion might cover the end zone of a football game.
In addition, many cable television and satellite television networks carry numerous channels. A subscriber typically gets over 50 channels, even for basic services, and it is not uncommon for a subscriber to have over 100 channels available with a typical subscription. Particularly in a multiple picture environment, in which the number of channels that can be viewed at one time is increased, a user may desire a means to easily select channels for viewing.
Moreover, advances in Internet video and television potentially makes available thousands of channels. Navigating through so many available channels becomes a daunting task. There are a number of ways to deal with the problem. Video on demand (VOD) allows a user to select a television program they want to watch, but this method is most effective only for a small number of television programs. The next time the user wants to watch television, they have to select a television program again.
Also, VOD relates to television programs and not to television channels. For example, if Mary wants to watch television programs about homes and gardens, she may use VOD to select a “24 Hour Design” show from House and Garden Television channel (HGTV). On the next day, Mary turns on the television to watch some more house and garden shows, but instead of seeing the HGTV channel, she finds a VOD screen waiting for her to once again select a program.
Another way of navigating through the channels is to use the programmed channel list feature of televisions and set-top boxes. A user may remove television channels they do not like. For example, Bob does not shop on television and is not interested in local community affairs. Thus, he removes all home shopping television channels and local community television channels from the programmed channel list. Bob is happy. Mary, Bob's wife, likes to shop but does not enjoy sports on television. Mary removes sports channels from the programmed channel list. Mary finds the home shopping channels were removed, and adds them back to the programmed channel list. Later that evening, Bob wants to watch a tennis final match on ESPN, a sports channel. Bob cannot find it on the programmed channel list.
Thus, particularly in a multiple picture environment, there is a need to organize television channels into a plurality of television channel groups.